Works Books

Kelly writes in a compelling way creating parallells and connections between him winning the various tasks on The Apprentice and his military experience. I like his style and his sense of taking responsibility even when things go wrong. Humility is deifinetely a trait a leader must develop!

I found the book a pleasant read and I liked the fact Kelly was talking a lot about the lessons he learnt in life and how these experiences enabled him to move on.

I grew up with some idea of what military life was like due to my Dad being in the Navy - but I must admit it's never held a lot of interest for me. Reading Kelly's book did actually shed a whole new light on what advantages military service can bring to other aspects of someone's life. The principles that are discussed in the book (Duty, Impeccability, Passion, Perseverance, Planning, Teamwork, Loyalty, Flexibility, Selfless Service and Integrity) are all really worthy reading for anyone in business and the military slant I found surprisingly gave it more bite and interest.

This is a great book that draws comparisons between Kelly's military service and his rise through the entrepreneurial ranks. I know Kelly personally, and he is not only a successfull businessman, he is also a devout humanitarian. Highly recommended!

I recently purchased "Take Command" for a college course. I chose this book because I am a fan of the television show "The Apprentice." I could not have picked a better book to read before I graduate and re-enter the business world.

The ten principles that Kelly Perdew learned while attending West Point can be used by anyone who wants to get the most out of life. Duty, Impeccability, Passion, Perserverance, Planning, Teamwork, Loyalty, Flexibility, Selfless Service and Integrity. I plan to use these principle's to be a strong leader in everything I do.

I always wondered how I would have handled military training. Kelly details how physical strength is only a small part of it.
I was very impressed with how Kelly got into West Point, as well as what it took to graduate. His business experience explains how to handle a loss and come back and do things better. The experience this guy has at such a young age is unbelievable!

If you are just looking for a college, read this book! If you are graduating and looking for a job, read this book! If you have been working for ten or twenty years, read this book! "Take Command" includes great stories about Donald Trump, Ross Perot and Marsha Evans to name a few. This book will teach you to be prepared for anything and to perform well under pressure or during a crisis.

Kelly Perdew details how the ten principles became second nature during his military training. Anyone can learn and use the ten principles. If you want to challenge yourself to be a strong leader in business and life, "Take Command" will put you in a position to succeed.

This book by Apprentice winner Kelly Perdew is a worthwhile read. Written in the style of many military-business leadership books, it swtiches back and forth between Perdew's Apprentice exploits and anecdotes from great military veterans turned business leaders. The stories about Perdew's career, Apprentice tasks, and about others are both inspirational and entertaining. I am giving 4 stars because he talks about principles, but does not go deep into the reader's application of them.

Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile read for both the Army or corporate officer.

Take This Bread: A Radical ConversionThis book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the community of food! Sara Miles is a writer and was an athiest who came to understand the role of sharing a meal in building community. After a varied career of cooking in restaurant kitchens and serving as an activist in poverty stricken and war torn countries, she comes home to a radical conversion resulting from the simple words: "Take this bread" said to her at a service of Holy Communion. Her conversion leads to growth in understaning the community that God intends for all humankind. Along the way, she is drawn into the community with afforded by a food pantry program she starts at her newly found church community.

Its all about the human hunger for belonging and for the meaning that comes from sharing food!

A wonderful book and a quick read!

Sara Miles' book "Take This Bread" is a perfect read for our times. Her realization that feeding others is an ultimate act of goodness came during a worship service. But the real story is what she did next. She went out from that church and created a feeding program when others said it couldn't be done. Then she helped others create feeding programs. I have recommended the book to people of different faiths and political views. They all love it. And even more, they have been inspired to get involved in helping the hungry. The new paperback version contains a Readers' Guide - perfect for book groups.

take this bread is one of the best left-of-center spiritual memoirs i've read, ever.

sara miles is a self-described liberal, an intellectual journalist who spent much of her life covering wars from the side of the oppressed (often in stark contrast to u.s. policy). she grew up in a staunchly athiest home (though both of her parents were children of missionaries, which ends up playing into her story in surprising and deeply satisfying ways), and was, as she says, the last person her friends would have expected to start talking about jesus.

sara walked into a san francisco church one day -- called, one might way; compelled, she wasn't sure why -- and took the eucharist. and something clicked, in that moment. she had an encounter with jesus that she was never able to dismiss or shake off. eventually, her connection with jesus became a compelling call to feed others, as she was fed. sara started a food pantry, literally ON the alter of her extremely nervous church. the book walks through her multiple conversions, and those of the people around her, many of them already professed christians.

the comparisons to anne lamott are easy (especially to anne's first spiritual memoir, traveling mercies). both are brilliant with words; both are liberals from san francisco, who grew up in book-loving, athiest, intellectual homes; both are liberal in every sense of the word; and both are deeply in love with jesus and passionate about following his lead. this -- i think -- is what seperates both anne and sara from classical liberals, who spent a good deal of their time distancing themselves from jesus.

but sara miles and anne lammott are not the same. sara doesn't have annie's wit, which, while i absolutely adore annie's wit, makes this book somewhat more compelling, and a bit less like a collection of witty, liberal, jesus-y essays. if annie's "theme" is her self-loathing and insecurity, sara's strong-willed theme is: food. food weaves its way through every chapter of the book: from her childhood, to her experiences as a chef in new york, to her connections with people in the third world, to her intitial and ongoing experience with jesus, to her establishment of one, then many, food pantries. it's hard not to read this book and not simultaneously hanker for a chunk of some cheese you can't pronounce, and want to give that cheese to someone who wouldn't otherwise experience their next meal.

wonderful, wonderful reading. challenging at points. highly edible. deeply nourishing.

From the moment I began reading to the last page I was hooked. I think this is a book that every church should own and require all outreach workers to read. In my view, Ms. Miles grasps and conveys in a succinct and direct manner just what it means to act out one's faith, a faith that has nothing to do with politics or what is expedient, or what will please people the most. There is a need, one responds, and that's all there is to it. Ms. Miles does not romanticize working with the homeless, feeding the hungry. She presents the challenges and difficulties clearly and realistically. This is not "fun" work. It's not meant to be fun. Yet,as I read this, I was struck by her understanding and acceptance as well as the clear conviction that this is what she was meant to do. Again, a very worthwhile read,immensely helpful and hopeful.

'Take this Bread' is a wonderful book, funny and profance and touching. I loved every page. I liked the commentary on the clergy and learned so much about how to love the other. Miles brought me to face my fears. Her take on Christianity as a complex, disturbing, scary way to live is so real. With fine writing she takes us into what it means to incarnate our religion, and it's painful to face that. Luckily, her humilty, mistakes and humor keep us on her side and thinking about how we might go forth too.

This book serves as a constant inspiration to me in my own meditation practice; I have read it countless times. As a psychotherapist whose modality involves working with my clients in a state of mindfulness (www.wisemenopause.com), I also recommend this book as a clear, concise introduction to meditation.

I have an edition of this book that I picked up about 15 years ago. I keep returning to this book year after year and have never tired of it. It has survived many purges of my spiritual library over the years. This book is sweet, easy to understand, and helpful. It defines a meditation practice that is easy to apply to one's daily activities. It is helping me relate more gently to the world and my life and is helpful in learning to awaken to the spaciousness and freedom that are ever present.

Fabulous book. Chapters are different talks given during a retreat. Insightful, down-to-earth as usual for her writing.

This is one of my favorite books by Pema Chodron. It not only does a very good job of describing the essence of Buddhism, but it goes beyond that in making Tibetan Buddhism more understandable and relevant to a Western audience without deveating from the tradition. In short, it contains the heart of the teachings of the Vajrayana. A nice complimentary book if you are interested in going deeper into Tibetan Buddhism is Fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism. These books compliment each other and the latter puts all of the Buddhist traditions in historical context. Huston Smith's essay in The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions or Buddhism: A Concise Introduction. You get more bang for your buck with the former Huston Smith book, however.

The fundamental teaching of the Buddha involves the following realizations: 1) Life is suffering; 2) The cause of suffering is selfish desire; 3) To get rid of selfish desire, follow the eightfold path. The essence of the eightfold path is a moral life grounded in a strong loving-kindness practice (A Mahayana emphasis, but true of all schools). This book provides precisely that -- a path of loving-kindness that any person could follow and apply to their life. When asked what religion the Dalai was, he once said... "my religion is loving-kindess." While the Dalai Lama didn't officially endorse the book that I know of, certainly it is written in keeping with this spirit.

This book covers a LOT of ground in short volume of about 108 pages. It looks at the existential situation of not being able to escape our life and the human condition which is characterized by suffering. The Buddha said as his last words, "be a lamp unto yourselves." I believe the intent here was that no super mommy or daddy in the sky is going to come down and save you from the human condition. You must look deeply to see the truth and this will liberate you from samsara or the cycle of suffering. In this book, Pema Chodron describes the Buddha's teachings and more importantly practices to help you to arrive at a place of loving-kindness and equanimity.

What I most like about this book is that she keeps things simple. She also describes Tonglen practice and other forms of meditation and habits of thought that cultivate a mind that is not locked in conditioned thinking. Krishnamurti once said, "seeing the truth deeply is what liberates, not your efforts to be free." A corallary to this might be... yes... but what limits how deeply you can see is your depth of compassion for others, but primarily for yourself. This book is a manual about how to cultivate a loving-kindness that allows you to penetrate the insufficiency of living for things like money, sex, power and status. It is a good read for anyone.

If you are interested in a somewhat different Western perspective or something to contrast these writings with then try A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. This book by Jack Kornfield emphasizes an earlier Buddhist tradition namely the Theravada (Way of the Elders). Mahayana Buddhism was an outgrowth of these teachings and Tibetan Buddism (Vajrayana) a further extension and elaboration. Jack Kornfield is a Western psychologist who spent a number of years in Thailand as a Buddhist monk and his perspective is accessible, entertaining, practical and complimentary to this book. If you are looking for a more integrative read that relates to Western Psychology directly try Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation. This is a more difficult read, but extremely worthwhile. There are other recommendations on my listmania lists of this is your area of interest.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good book, but there are just a couple of things about it that make it not quite as good as I was hoping. First, her interpretation of the Four Noble Truths is problematic in my eyes. Basically she take Tibetan teachings on egolessness (which are great teachings in their own right) and superimposes them on the Four Noble Truths. Her interpretation does not ring true for me - she states that the 2nd Noble Truth is "resisting life causes suffering" and that the 3rd Noble Truth is learning to let go of our "selves"/ego. These are valuable teachings but do not represent the more usual (and probably academically correct, as well as more powerful, in my opinion) translations that I have read: that (very summarily put) the 2nd Noble Truth is that that craving/desire/grasping causes suffering and the 3rd Noble Truth is that ceasing to crave/desire/grasp results in the cessation of suffering. Her interpretation is not wrong, but it is a bit of a Chinese whispered version of the Four Noble Truths and I would have liked her book better had she not re-interpreted them like this. Secondly, she writes "from above" a little. I feel that she comes across like a lovely, cosy, caring and wise Aunty. For me this made her teachings have less impact. I preferred Tara Brach's "Radical Acceptance" (which deals with a similar subject - accepting life as it is) to "The Wisdom of No Escape": Brach's writing is a bit more raw and personal and she writes like one sister to another sister (or brother)).

I really like the fact that they have information week by week about what you and the baby are going through. In addtion they have comments from mother's for each week. A lot of the time these comments are contradictory which helps to illustrate the point that every pregnancy is different and what you are going through is normal for some. I'm in my first trimester and i've read the first 14 weeks thouroughly and looked through the rest of the book as well. I like how the sections are split up and the sections at the end such as the "is it safe?" section are great. There are benefits to other books as well - one is that some of the information, such as information on specific symptoms, is talked about throughout the chapter and so it may not be as easy to search for answers to specific questions in these areas. However, I've really enjoyed this book and I think it's a great reference to have.

I flipped through a bunch of books (and someone gave me What to Expect When You're Expecting). But The Baby Center's Guide had the most meat of those I looked at. I'm the type of person that wants the facts written in intelligent terms. The rest seemed "dumbed down" in comparison.

This is hands down the best pregnancy guide I've read. "What to Expect" is alarmist. "The Girlfriend's Guide" will quickly make you neurotic about your weight. The 2004 edition of "The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby" is organizationally muddled. This book, however, is wonderful and everything you could ask for in a pregnancy reference guide.

The week-by-week pregnancy descriptions in "Essential Guide" are informative enough to satisfy your curiousity about what's going on with your body and your baby's development, but not so detailed that you feel creeped-out or overwhelmed. The tone of the book is never preachy or anxiety-inducing. The medical info is largely up-to-date and tailored to common American health care system practices. And there are helpful sections on "making the most of your changing look." Bravo! A superb resource I consult often and would recommend to any pregnant woman.

This book was well-thout out, put together clearly, and features input from mothers at each stage (week) of pregnancy, which really helped me understand that everything I was going through was normal (and scientifically explicable). I'm a childcare provider and 1st time mom (now 16 months old), and I recommend and buy this book for all of my pregnant friends (even dads-to-be should read it).
Trust me, you won't be disappointed! I had 7 other pregnancy books given to me by friends/garage sales, and they all were terrible, common sense type books. Even the "What to Expect" series is so incredibly overrated...I have no idea why! Buy this book and you won't regret it. Oh, and you're welcome to check out my wish list on Amazon that I share with my expectant friends and family. I researched forever before deciding on each item and have nothing but terrific things to say about each one!

Great week by week guide of what is going on. Good tips and things too look out for.

Baby Tales: A Pregnancy Companion By Maurice Woodson is an impressive and welcome selection of inspiring, endearing, thought provoking tales of pregnancy and childbirth. The stories range from a single paragraph to a few pages in length. Sometimes they are gentle and heartwarming, sometimes they convey experiences of tragedy, but overall they give the reader a profound message of hope and showcase the importance of bringing new life into the world. Highly recommended for expectant parents, Baby Tales is very easy to pick up and very hard to put down!

I found this book to be very uplifting, as well as
entertaining. I enjoyed the different stories and experiences. unlike most tech books, this book doesnt preach...It describes and portrays pregnancy as it really is. I applaud M.S. Woodson for getting it right.

This book definitely keeps it real! It's not one of those pregnancy books that are so filled with medical [jargon] that you don't know if you're coming or going after you read it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, knows someone who's pregnant and anyone who can say the word pregnant.

I almost didn't buy this book because of some of the reviews. I agree, I thought the book was kind of expensive for what it was so I bought another book instead...then I came across this book in a store. I skimmed through it and really enjoyed what I saw. I bought it and was glad that I did. Babytales: A Pregnancy Companion is a great book and worth the five stars it recieved. My friends and I enjoy reading it together during our lunch break. I must have read it three or four times. If you are pregnant and want to know what it is like to experience pregnancy first hand, Then you will enjoy this book. I'm a nurse in a maternity ward and me and four other nurses are all
pregnant at the same time and the one book that we all enjoy is this one. It is definately worth the price.

This was a great book. I found it difficult to put down. Any parent or parent to be will love this book

This book would be an invaluable asset to have handy to anyone who reads a lot.It is a large book ,1144 pages.It is the type of book that will be turned to frequently when you come across something in your reading that you would like to know a bit more about without going to a lot of trouble or checking a lot of sources. The book covers a lot more than literature and authors. It is an encyclopedia in every sense of the word.For instance ,if you have never heard of an author,or a book,that is mentioned somewhere ;there's a good chance that here you will find enough to serve your needs.However;if you do know the author and his works ,you will probably basically know what is in this book.
Although most of the reviewers are very "well read";don't assume this is not the book for the "ordinary reader".I consider myself in that second group;and I can vouch that it is very down to earth and jam packed full of information,usable for everybody,regardless of their background or knowledge.
I must also warn you that when you pick it up there is a great tendency to flip around it from one thing to another. It is no problem to spend an hour or more glancing through it. It is also the type of thing that can be left around for anyone to pick up,open at a page at random;and they will find something to interest them.
It's difficult to say what all's in the book;because it covers all types of things other than literature.
Just a few for instances;

Pg 321..we get all the rulers of England from 829-
present,including their time in office.
Pg.44..explanation of Gordian knot.
Pg.434.. background of the guillotine.
Pg.491..Huguenots
Pg.581..Last Supper
Pg.717-718..Napoleon I,II &III explained.
Artists are covered.I found it interesting that max Ernst is included but not M.C.Escher. We get definitions such as epigram,epilogue,epinicion and epiphany on Pg.325.A flip of pages to 1020, and we get a short explanation of the Thirty Year War,mixed in with authors and book titles.
What I've been trying to convey is the wide range of entries in the book and that it covers much more than literature and authors. It is a bit of a guess what you will find;but that is part of the enjoyment you will getfrom this book.You'll find "whore of Babylon" but not "The Butcher's Apron".The Pulitzer Prize winners are all listed.
I could go on forever;I'll quit now,as most readers have gotten my pointby now.I hope so,anyway.
If you buy this book,or buy it for someone who reads a lot;you'll never regret it.

This is the kind of work which when first dipped into leads to the temptation to dip into it more and more . The sheer amount of information is so great, the entries so various in subject that endless delight is to be found in learning more and more. There are however as with most things, a few problems and limitations.
Take for instance the opening entry of the Encyclopedia, the entry on 'Aaron'. We truly learn important things about Moses' brother and mouthpiece. But for anyone who knows Biblical literature not to speak of its commentaries, the entry is a shortcut of shortcuts. And thus misleading. For it does not tell of Aaron's role as leader of the Temple ceremony worship, does not explain his connection with Moses in a deep way, nor even mention their sister Miriam, does not tell of the death of Aaron's son in offering up strange fire, does not tell anything about Aaron's role as ' man of peace beloved by the people'. One of the great farewell scenes of world- literature Aaron's climbing to the top of Har Ha-Hor is not mentioned.
I take this one example to indicate another simple truth. An encylopedia of this kind is always best on a subject one does not really know much about. Then anything we are told , adds to our knowledge if not necesarily our understanding.
In checking out a number of articles I did not find ' inaccuracy' here. In confronting other subjects I knew nothing about I did have a sense that I was getting reliable information.
This is again a good tool and source for attaining first knowledge of a subject.
However if one really wants to know and understand the meaning of a particular subject my recommendation would be to supplement this work with other sources of information.

I love my 4th edition and am glad I've kept my 2nd edition as now I have the best of both worlds. New info in 4th and the deleted info in the 2nd. The only thing I would do to improve the next edition is go back to the alphabet tabulations.

He drove an ambulance during World War 1, before becoming one of America's most famous novelists. Who wrote "Death of a Salesman"? Who wrote "Manhattan Transfer? Who created the character, Sherlock Holmes"? Holden Caulfield was the main character of what famous novel? Who wrote "Catch-22"? These are just some of the questions that "Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia" can answer. Bruce Murphy's book offers biographical notes on writers, synopsis of famous books, plays and poems, descriptions of characters and detailed explanation of literary terms and movements.

I have had my copy of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia since its publication in 1987 and have found no better reference tool for writing research papers and for general literary inquiries. Although "Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia" is over-due for a major facelift, it continues to be a valuable tool - I keep my copy at arms reach along with my copy of "Oxford Companion to American Literature", by James D. Hart.

I purchased this for myself my second year of college. Being an English major especially interested in the Modernists, it soon became the most used volume in my bookcase. A fantastic quick reference when crunched for time and excellent for understanding those oh-so-esoteric literary allusions. It's wonderful, with references for historical and artistic events and movements, novels, epics, authors, poets . . . a must for any lover and/or student of literature. This would make a fantastic gift, too!

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.

The book is worth purchasing for the biographical background. His youth and adulthood were extremely tough and lonely. Hughes seems to have lost his religion early in life.

Excellent book and historical treasure that I intend to pass down to my grandchildren in the future.

I prefer his earlier stuff but there are poems in this book that make the entire thing worth it. Nude Young Dancer, Minstrel Song and countless others made me want to weep and smile. What can I say, I felt this guys pain...

If you haven't heard of Langston Hughes, I suggest that you purchase this, THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES, as an introduction to his style. Hughes was part of the definitive Harlem Renaissance Movement of the 1920s through the late 1940s, that was a very important period of time for African-Americans in the United States. For the first time, their voices were really being heard [and recognized] in the genres of music, writing, and sculpture, in this country.

This book is an amazing collection of five decades of his most powerful, intelligent and sensitive works. The poems start in 1921 through 1967. There are also several poems, written for children, that I didn't even realize Langston had penned! So beautiful and unexpected. What's more, one of his most well-known poems is featured, here, "What Happens to a Dream Deferred." Langston Hughes' views of race, society and social issues are truly timeless and compelling. For me, reading his works is like listening to a quiet, constant patter of rain on the rooftop, gradually growing with intensity, until the raindrops start flowing like teardrops from the great sky. That is how Hughes uses language. Essentially, he derives his beautiful rhythmic poetic language from an infinite river of words, he then pours them over on another and tells stories. This is truly the book to add to your poetry collection.

More than the exiled Eliott, greater than Walt Whitman, consistently clearer than Ginsberg, more powerful than Pound, freer than Frost, more American than Wallace Stevens, moreso even than the mighty Merton, here at long last is our greatest American poet receiving over-due respect.

A thick tome I purchased for my English learners which will instead fill my bed and my head for many cold and lonesome months ahead. Like the collected Poe, the collected Giovanni, an essential element to any American literature shelf, here for the first time meticulously researched and reported, with promise for more should any further works emerge. This is our American voice, clear and strong. This is the consummate volume of this great American poet, the one who wrote:

"( . . .) I've known rivers, ancient dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers."


May we once more grow deep with him, and by him. Read him, once more, here, complete and correct. Read him, and recall our America. Read him.

The day I got this book i couldn't put it down. It was very interesting and had a great history of the science of finding time of death. It's a great intro book if this is something you like to read about. Great book, can't wait to read her other book! Read this book and I promise you will enjoy it.

Not for those with weak stomachs, but great for those with any interest in death investigations. Pin pointing time since death has always been a thorn in the side of many a prosecuter. This book gives a very nice detailed history of how we started trying to determine T.O.D to where we are now. I recommend this book to anyone in the field of forensic science or with a interest in criminal justice and death investigation.

If you want to know the latest in the field of forensic sciences, this is your book. Sachs follows the roving eye of those scientists who, most seemingly accidentally, get roped into murder investigations where time of death determines everything: from the indentity of the victim to that of the killer. The liquid in the eyeball, bones, fatty acids, maggots, weeds, germs and pigs all come in to play. More entertaining than CSI and Kay Scarpetta put together.

I couldn't put this book down. It is a must read for anyone interested in science, death, anatomy, or just the bizarre aspects of decomposition! Really interesting stuff in here and the writer is at turns witty, serious, and altogether a prolific story-teller. A definite favorite in my own collection of books to read and re-read. GREAT!

Learning the time of death is crucial in many cases of unnatural death, yet it's still not an exact science. Jessica Snyder Sachs handles the grisly topic with confidence and a conversational tone. The book takes you through the history of determining time of death and then details the recent and current science of it without once slipping into dry academic style or overwrought drama. She uses many anecdotes that bring the topic to life (if you will excuse the expression), and her word sketches of the scientists involved shows the human side of science. Sachs is an accomplished science writer, and it shows. The book is fascinating, not for the faint of stomach but not deliberately grisly either. It's an excellent, readable work, one you'll find hard to put down.

I met Ms. Sachs last year, and interviewed her for a review of the book on another website. We sat in her back yard, talking about death and writing. She is gracious and knowledgeable in person, and her personable manner comes through in the book. As someone who has studied criminal justice in various forms for over 20 years, I highly recommend it.

Amazing book! Proves that not all Germans were rabid Nazis. A personal journey through a unique perspective on how and why the Nazis were able to assume power, as well as why the Germans were unable to stop them. Highly recommended!

This is the story of Sebastian Haffner, a man who lived in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. I loved hearing the story from the perspective of the average German. I can't imagine living in such tumultuous times, but reading this book gives me a glimpse. The best part about it is the fact that it tries to answer two very important questions: how on earth a regime like the Nazis could rise to power, and how almost the entire nation where corrupted by them. It's a wonderful story that I would recommend to anyone that is the bit interested in that period. Remember, it's by understanding the past that we can best keep from repeating it.

Excellent book on the rise of the Nazis by an author with a very humane and sensible view of life who lived through the events. Haffner gives voice to the average Germans who witnessed the rise of Hitler and did not approve - the majority, as it turns out - but who could simply not make sense of the madness around them nor could they find a way to realistically oppose the Nazis.

Haffner's narrative is often touching as he discusses personal events of his own, friends' and family's, illustrating how the sphere of their private lives was affected by politics. The result is that it reads like a 'non-fiction novel', and one extremely relevant for contemporary world events.

It is a pity that Haffner never actually concluded the book. In the last section, his son briefly explains what happened after the abrupt ending of the narrative, thus we miss the detail and richness that Hafner's own perspective would have undoubtedly provided. Still, it is an unmissable book, packed with lessons for present and future generations.

Sebastian Haffner's "Defying Hitler" has an ambitious initial scope - to chronicle the rise of Hitler from 1918-1939. The memoir is "unfinished" in that the narrative leaves off in 1933 as Haffner put down writing the manuscript with the advent of World War II and never came back to it. Haffner's son, Oliver Pretzel ultimately had the work published after Haffner's death.

Even in its "unfinished" condition, the work is a masterpiece. Haffner's purpose is not to excuse the average German in germany to succumbing to Nazism and to Hitler but rather to EXPLAIN the phenomenon. Excusing it would simply be post hoc. Explaining it serves the additional function of future application.

Defying Hitler was a difficult thing to do in practice. One could certainly not do so in public. The repression of Nazism in Germany was all the more pervasive by its reach into the private sphere and by doing so, obliterating the prior German distinction between public and private. The only safe way to defy Hitler was, ultimately emigration.

Haffner's narrative is frank, honest and ironic. It was a joy to read.

Finally, a word about Robert Whitfield, the reader of the Audio edition of "Defying Hitler." I believe there are instances in which the audio edition of a work is equal to or superior to the printed version. These instances of "audio excellence" are directly related to the quality of the reader. Robert Whitfield repeatedly accomplishes "aduio excellence." Whitfield's diction is spot on, his tone fluctuates to match the text. If the text is ironic, so then is Whitfield's tone. If the text is frank, so then is Whitfield's tone. If the text contains italics for emphasis, that emphasis is contained within Whitfield's voice. In short, his contributions always enhance a book and never detract from it. For other texts read by Robert Whitfield, I would recommend Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and The Abolition of Man & the Great Divorce: Library Edition by C.S. Lewis.

This is a powerful story of the rise of the Nazi movement with scary parallels to modern day events. The question has often been asked how the Germans could allow this to happen and Haffner does an amazing job at describing how. Along with a controlled media, one method was to turn the volume of fear and intimidation one little almost imperceptible increment at the time. Most people just laughed at the antics of Hitler and his crowd in the beginning, but by the time that people caught on to the seriousness of the issue it was too late. By this time many secretly just hoped that it would go away like a bad dream, but history tells a different story.

The difference with this book is that it is told from a very human perspective from an ordinary German who was living through those times and who saw the transformation of German society and social interaction.

Along with this book I would recommend the movie V for Vendetta (Two-Disc Special Edition), and the book Political Ponerology (A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes), which describes the process by which a society is taken over, and by what kind of people.

Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. This book is an important book to read so as to be better able to read the warning signs before it is too late.